


The Heart & Soul

by Kaimu



Category: Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 05:30:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaimu/pseuds/Kaimu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>post-CoE. Jack thinks back one night and realizes he was wrong about 1 thing. (kind of a twist at the end, but not a fix-it)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Heart & Soul

Sitting in one of those space bars up in the Galaxy, Jack Harkness stares into his almost empty glass and remembers...

The suit, the hair, the body, the eyes...oh God, the eyes... the talks they had, the looks he gave...Everything.

Being immortal wasn't always sunshine and roses, hell no. It meant losing people in all different kind of ways. By death, by him running away or once they found out about his 'special abbility' they called him names. 'Wrong', they would say, 'The Devil' they would call him.

But not Ianto Jones.

Ianto; kind, patient, forgiving, loving, beautiful, Jones.

Jack had loved every single one of his team members, even Suzie, but none of them had come close to Ianto.

They all saw him for someone different...

To Suzie he was the man who would give her new stuff to experiment with. To Owen, well, he really couldn't tell for sure, but he knew Owen truly respected him deep down. To Tosh, he was their leader; the one she would look for to search for guidance. To Gwen, he was some kind of knight in shining armour; the local hero, while he was actually anything but. To Ianto...to Ianto he was Jack. Just Jack. Or 'Sir' or 'Captain', but that's a whole different story.

Ianto was the one who kept them all grounded. Spoiled them with his out-of-this-world coffee and made them crack up with his witty come-backs.

He was the one who kept them together, even if no-one really realized it at the time. Not even Ianto himself.

Jack knew how much Ianto looked up to him, how badly he wanted to become like Jack; become someone people would look up to. What Ianto didn't realize was that people already did.

Tosh, Gwen and even Owen looked up to Ianto; not that the latter would've ever admit that. But most of all, Jack looked up to him and that was a big thing to achieve because Jack had never looked up to anyone except for 'his' Doctor. That's until Ianto Jones flirted his way into Torchwood 3.

Flirted his way into Jack Harkness' bruised and battered heart.

It was time to admit it to himself. He had made a lot of mistakes, letting Ianto die was probably the biggest one of all, but this one he could at least leave at rest once he spoke the words out loud.

"I was wrong," Jack spoke loudly, not caring about the curious looks he got from the aliens -yes, aliens- around him. "Gwen Cooper wasn't the heart and soul of Torchwood 3. Ianto Jones was."

With a thud, Jack places his almost glass on the counter and some money beside it, then leaves the bar.

He really needs some air.

~~++~~

Jack blinks when he's outside, tears prickling behind his eyes but he's desperate to hold them back. A sound catches his attention and he looks around, that's when he sees it. Sees _**him.**_

He's standing in a beam of white light, only no one seems to notice him. No one but Jack.

Jack wants to run over there and wrap his arms around the man he once claimed to love, but never really told him. But he knows that he can't.

The not-so-stranger senses his feelings and reciprocates them with a soft, sad smile. Jack can't help but smile back. The man's smile has always been infectuous.

He almost gasps when he hears that familiar voice inside his head. A voice he's been yearning to hear for so long.

_"Thank you, Jack."_

_"For what?"_

_"Not forgetting. Acknowledging me."_

Jack smiles.

_"Always have. Always will."_

They stare at each other. A tear trickling down both of their cheeks. They keep staring until the man in the white light starts to disappear. To fade out into the stars.

_"I love you."_

Jack stands in attention and salutes him as the man gives a small wave, before completely fading away.

Jack stares up at the sky, at the star that twinkles the brightest, and grins.

"I love you too, Jones; Ianto Jones." Another tear escapes, but he doesn't bother to wipe it away. "I love you too.&quot


End file.
